Chapter Nine
"Oh, for heaven's sake! Would you two stop bickering?" Doctor Chakwas stood with her hands on her hips, giving her patients a steely glare. "Or am I going to have to separate you?"
"Sorry, doc." Glancing at her roommate, Shepard added sheepishly, "Sorry, Garrus. I know I'm being a bitch. I'm just so tired of being in this room and in this bed." She winced at the tone of her voice, knowing that she sounded like a petulant child.
"I want you to remember that you said that. In a few days, you will probably regret it." The doctor turned to the open doorway and called, "You can come in now."
A man entered, carrying a variety of equipment. Shepard arched a brow at the doctor.
"This gentleman is here to fit you for your prosthetic." Her gaze softened. "You know how much technology was lost when the Reapers were destroyed. I can't give you a new leg like I would have been able to on the Normandy. However, some of the older prosthetics work just as well, even if they don't look as good." She glanced at Shepard's left leg where it had been amputated just below the knee; the stump had healed nicely and would now be able to bear the pressure of wearing an artificial leg.
"Once your new leg is ready, the real work will begin." The doctor's grey eyes issued a challenge to Shepard's blue ones. "Then we'll find out if you are still as tough as you used to be."
A chuckled issued from Garrus' bed.
"Don't get too cocky, Vakarian. I may have to beat you with my crutches to keep you in line." The old twinkle was back in Shepard's eyes – at least briefly. Garrus' heart soared to see it.
Over the next few days, Linda's constant fidgeting began to get on everyone's nerves. Even grueling physical therapy didn't seem to take the edge off. Doctor Chakwas had not cleared her to leave the hospital, even though Shepard had resorted to begging. When Garrus got in on it as well, the doctor threw her hands up in despair.
"Fine! I give up! I will not dismiss you from the hospital yet, but I will give permission for you to go outside for short periods of time – but only if some goes with you." She held up a hand for silence when everyone started talking excitedly. "As you build up your strength, your outings can get longer." She walked over and laid her hand on Linda's arm. "Just be aware – this is not the Earth that you remember. Things have changed."
It was agreed that Garrus and Shepard would make their first excursion outside after lunch. Shepard would have to be in a wheelchair since her prosthetic was not yet ready and she wasn't yet strong enough to make an extended journey on crutches. Garrus would be able to push the wheelchair and use it to support himself as well. His wounds were only slight less severe than Linda's and although he was healing well, he still had a pronounced limp.
Garrus grinned as Doctor Chakwas and Trish fussed over Linda. They insisted on fixing her hair, getting her fresh pajamas and a robe before helping her into the wheelchair and allowing him to take her away. She caught his eye and rolled hers, but didn't complain; she knew that their actions were an expression of their feelings for her – and their concern over how the experience was going to affect her.
Garrus wheeled Linda out of her room and into the hallway. For the first time she realized that the "hospital" was just one wing of what was once a much larger medical facility – the only wing left standing. Gaping holes marred the outside walls, allowing them to see the remains of what was once London. They didn't speak – just stared at the devastation as they made their way through the halls. Once outside, Garrus didn't know which way to go – rubble still covered the ground, making pushing the chair difficult for someone that wasn't completely steady on his feet yet. As he hesitated, Kaidan rounded the corner, wiping sweat from his forehead. He grinned when he saw them.
"It's good to see you two up and about. Would you like for me to give you a tour? Maybe answer some questions?"
The patients nodded, still somewhat taken aback by the little that they had seen. Kaidan motioned for them to follow him and led them down a debris-free path to a semi-shaded area under a tree that had somehow survived the invasion. It was burned and broken, but still standing and when Shepard looked closer, she noticed small green leaves sprouting on its branches. A tear trickled down her cheek.
Several make-shift benches had been placed in a circle around the base of the tree. Kaidan went to it, placing one hand on its roughened bark and looking up into its branches as he spoke. "We call this the 'Tree of Hope.' It symbolizes humanity – we have been beaten and battered, taken to the brink of extinction. But we fought back, and like this tree, we're still alive, and starting to grow again." He knelt beside Shepard's chair. "And we have you to thank for it."
"No," Linda shook her head. "Not just me. I only played a small role. Turian, asari, krogan, quarian, and geth - so many others fought and died alongside us to make this happen. So many deaths…" She put her hand over her eyes, fighting back sobs.
Kaidan pushed her wheelchair between two of the benches and sat on one side of her. Garrus sat on the other side, taking her hand in his before carefully stretching out his injured leg.
"Yes, there have been countless deaths throughout the galaxy," Kaidan continued his narrative. "But there is still life. Look around, listen, and you will hear it."
Linda closed her eyes and listened intently. The first thing that she heard was quiet – she couldn't remember the last time that she had heard such a loud silence. Slowly, other sounds began making themselves known. She heard the murmur of voices, the sounds of wreckage being cleared, even the chirping of a solitary bird. Life indeed went on.
"Things are already greatly improved over how they were when the Reapers… died." Kaidan's eyes grew distant as he remembered. "At first we were in shock and disbelief – it seemed almost impossible that it was actually over. Then the celebrating began." He laughed. "I'm pretty sure that whatever supply of alcoholic beverages remained was pretty well depleted at that time. I'm also fairly certain that in a few more months, there will be a baby boom. Once the celebrations were over, and the hangovers were gone…" He shrugged. "That's when everyone looked around and began to feel overwhelmed. There was so much death, so much destruction. How did we even begin to recover? It took the children to show us.
"The children were the ones that went into the streets and began moving small rocks, stacking them up, and clearing the ground. We were impressed with their initiative and began following in their footsteps. Then we realized what they were really doing. They gathered piles of stones, then carried them to the nearest Reaper remains and began throwing them at the shell. They threw and they yelled and they kicked the skeleton – and they began to heal. When they began to heal – so did we."
Kaidan turned his dark eyes to his friends. "The only way to heal is one day, one step, at a time." He stood up. "I'll leave you two alone. There are many things that we should discuss, but I don't want to hit you with too much on your first day out." He wagged his finger at both of them. "And, you don't need to stay out too long. Doctor C will have your hides if you do." Giving them a wave, he walked back down the pathway and returned to his duties.
A gentle breeze blew by, carrying the sounds of laughter and ruffling Shepard's hair. Since the final battle, her hair had returned to its normal strawberry blonde. Garrus was glad – he had missed seeing the sunlight turn her hair to flame. He reached out and ran his fingers through it, enjoying the silken feel against his skin. Shepard turned to him, her blue eyes still reddened from the tears that she had shed. He slid his hand around her neck and moving closer, pressed her forehead to his. They sat in silence for several minutes.
Finally, Linda spoke meekly. "Can you take me back now? I'm ready to leave."
"Of course. But first," he bent his head lower and pressed his mouth to hers. It was the first kiss that they had shared since… before. Linda sighed against his lips – a sound of pleasure that he had not heard in far too long.
Yes, they shared a hospital room, but they were never truly alone. There was always someone coming in to check on one or the other of them, take their temperature, give them medication, or – Garrus' personal favorite – ask about the state of their bowels. Shepard always laughed when they asked him that question; he was no prude, but he did not wish to discuss the condition of his bowels with anyone. They held hands often and now that their recovery was well under way, cast longing glances at each other frequently. But, actual kissing, much less anything else, had been virtually impossible.
Linda was quiet on the return trip to their room and seemed to withdraw into herself, speaking only when spoken to. Concerned at how overcome she seemed to be by the state of affairs in the outside world, Garrus had an idea. He managed to get Kaidan alone, under the guise of having him help him to his physical therapy session, and laid out his plan.
"That sounds good, Garrus, but I'm not sure how much help I can be." Kaidan's brow furrowed as he thought. "I'll put out some feelers and see what I can come up with." A few days later, he smuggled a package to Garrus and gave him some whispered instructions.
The next time Linda and Garrus went outside, he gave her with the package with a flourish. "This is for you."
She cocked her head at him curiously.
"Go ahead. Open it." He was excited to see her reaction.
She opened the box and pulled out a small silver and black rectangle covered with small buttons and dials. "What is it?"
"It's a digital camera – you take pictures with it. Here…" reaching out he took the device from her and demonstrated how it worked. "You look through here, frame what you want to take a picture of and click this button here. The image is saved to a memory card. It can be downloaded to a computer later, even printed out."
Linda took it back and looked it over carefully, learning the placement of the buttons and asking questions about a few of the other features. She then asked Garrus to push her to the Tree – she wanted her first pictures to be of it. She was as excited as a child at Christmas to find that a pair of birds – robins, she thought – were building a nest there. She took picture after picture of the couple as they selected twigs and leaves and worked together to build their home.
"Thank you!" She clutched the camera to her chest and gave Garrus a look of utter joy.
"You're welcome." He reached out and brushed her hair from her eyes. "I thought this might help you. You've spent much of your time processing life through the scope of a gun; I thought it might be easier for you to process this new world through the scope of a camera."
"I knew there was a reason that I keep you around." She reached out and stroked his mandible. "You're a pretty smart guy."
"And handsome too."
"Absolutely."
####
Soon, Linda's prosthesis was ready. Garrus couldn't help but laugh when he saw it. She had had the metal tube of the leg painted with a red and purple camo pattern, like the armor she had worn when they were working with Cerberus. Fitted with her new leg, she began the grueling process of learning to walk again. It hurt Garrus to watch her struggle and to see her in such pain. He too was still in therapy, but his was not as bad. His legs were almost healed and his limp was much better - soon it would be gone. In spite of the pain that she was in, or maybe because of it, he watched the old determination and fire come back into his lover. Her therapy sessions might leave her shaking and covered with sweat with tears pouring down her cheeks, but she did everything asked of her and more. It did not take her long to begin taking steps on her own, aided only by a cane.
Now that they no longer required constant monitoring, their hospital room had been reconfigured. Several pieces of equipment had been moved out, making room for the chairs that had been brought in for use by their visitors. The rails had also been removed from their beds which had then been pushed together so that they could sleep cuddled up – just like the old days. Garrus was definitely ready to do more than cuddle, but there were still constant interruptions by medical staff. Didn't these people have better things to do? Did they constantly have to wake them up to see if they were sleeping?
Kaidan came to visit them each day, and used the time to fill them in – slowly – on the changes to both Earth and the galaxy. The destruction of the Reapers had also destroyed the relays and any technology based on them – which was more things than it was possible to list. Without the relays, it was too far for space ships to travel between systems – it would take years. Therefore, any of the ships belonging to alien races that had come to Earth's defense in the final battle were stuck there. Ships throughout the galaxy were forced to land on the nearest habitable planet – whether or not it was their homeworld.
Things got off to a tough start for the turians stranded on Earth with a limited supply of dextro-compatible foods. Fortunately, a quarian liveship, fully equipped with hydroponics bays and the seeds necessary to grow foods that both races could eat, had also landed on the planet. Human farmers had immediately come to their aid, assisting with finding local soils compatible with the seeds and began farming immediately so as to have enough food on hands for both races. While that would suffice as a short-term fix, human and turian scientists were working together to genetically engineer cattle that could safely be consumed by the meat-loving turians.
Food issues aside, the biggest problem had been the krogans – no pun intended. With the genophage cured, the once mighty krogan race could begin to rebuild. Wrex had left Urdnot Bakara behind – and pregnant – to come to Earth's defense. Now, he could never go home and would never see his child. He was not happy – nor were the surviving krogan that had come with him.
"They are going to be a problem." Kaidan ran his hand through his hair, making it stand on end. "You know how aggressive the krogan are and now they are stuck here. They frequently stir up trouble and start fights – one day it's going to get out of hand. For now, we are utilizing their strength on demolition crews – tearing down the buildings that are too damaged to restore. It helps us with a task that must be done and gives them a way to work off some of their aggression." He shook his head, looking tired. "It's not a long term solution though. Unfortunately, I don't know what is."
Before anyone could respond, Trish entered the room with meds for both Garrus and Shepard. On the way out, she stopped by Kaidan and smoothed down his hair, giving him a smile; he reached up and squeezed her hand in thanks. Now that she had Kaidan on the hook, Trish put a little extra wiggle in her walk to reel him in. It worked; he quickly bade Shepard and Garrus farewell, and hurried to follow the nurse out.
"I may be wrong, but I think love is in the air." Shepard stared thoughtfully at the door as it closed behind the couple.
"Mmmm." Garrus put his arms around Linda and pulled her close. "It's also in my arms. We should have a few minutes before the next interruption. What do you say we put them to good use?"
Shepard tilted her head back, putting both her lips and neck within easy range. "I still like the way you think, Vakarian."